Naunton Park Parking issues update

Following on from my blog entry on 25th November I have had further discussions with County Council Officers about the residents parking consultation in Naunton Park Road and Whitecross Square which have finally clarified the situation.

I had previously been told that letters and surveys had been delivered to residents in these streets which were included in the Naunton Park Zone in the Southern Area Parking Review.

When the results of the recent Southern Area Review were published there were no results from the Naunton Park Zone. I was told this was because there had been so few responses from local people it wasn't worth putting them on the results map. This was very surprising as I was aware of long standing problems with commuter parking in this area.

Hence I wrote a letter to local residents to ask for their views. From this people said they needed more information about what residents parking schemes would mean and I felt people needed the letters/surveys re-delivered as these contained this information.

Towards the end of December, County Officers said that they would deliver this information to residents the week beginning 19^th December. I was then told that this would be delayed until the New Year. Following my request not to delay the delivery of these letters and surveys I was told that they would not be sent to residents at all.

I was told by County Council Officers that earlier in the year, following consultation with a Focus Group made up of local traders, the hospital and a few residents, a decision had been made to remove the Naunton Park Zone from the Southern Area Parking Review. Also according to the Echo today Conservative councillors had agreed this.

This was because it was too small and isolated a zone to function properly. I believe this was a not a sound reason to totally remove the zone given the historic demand from some residents there for help with commuter parking.

I believe it should instead have been included in the nearby larger Naunton Zone so that people would at least be able to give their views even if the result was that a parking scheme was not wanted.

However, for reasons I am still not entirely sure about I was never directly asked if this was OK even though I am a County Councillor for the area.

I am really very concerned about the way this process has been handled. The Southern Area Parking Review surveyed streets in Leckhampton like Upper Norwood St and Fairfield Park Road where there is negligible commuter parking and where I have never been approached by local people asking  for a parking scheme.

I pointed this out before the consultation began and particularly asked for the Moorend Crescent and Upper Norwood St Zone to be taken out but these areas were still included; the result of the consultation was an unsurprising lack of support for residents parking schemes.

And yet the Naunton Park Zone which has suffered years of problems with commuter parking was removed from the consultation.

Whilst the parking scheme the County has created has been criticised for being overly expensive and bureaucratic I strongly believe residents in the Naunton Park Zone should at least have had the chance to take part in the consultation given the problems with commuter parking and previous requests from residents for help.

I have been told that there is no resource now to consult people living here and that I need to ask for the Cheltenham Parking Board, for a new review for this area which is what I will do. 

More information on the County Councils website which still has a map for the Southern Area Review which includes the Naunton Park Zone.